In Search of a Queen
by DaenerysTargary3n
Summary: Klaus has heard of a human princess in a faraway land who can eat animal organs and stomach their blood who would make a perfect consort for Klaus with an army of hybrids. In a post-Drogo time in the wasteland Daenerys is lost in at start of season 2.
1. A New Beginning

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: _This is my second fanfiction, but the first where I attempt to do any crossover. I love "Game of Thrones", both the books and the HBO show, but this is going to be based on the TV show because it's a bit easier to link to The CW show, "The Vampire Diaries", which is also one of my favourite shows ever! I obviously do not and cannot take any credit, nor claim any ownership of George R.R. Martin/L.J. Smith/HBO Creators/The CW Creators' creations in either show. The character pairings are Klaus/Caroline initially but not for long and it is mostly Klaus/Daenerys. (NB much like "Game of Thrones" operates as a p.o.v. show, this story is going to be told from the points of view of Daenerys and Klaus) The chapters will not all be nearly this long – just wanted to give readers a nice, long introduction to the story, so you can see whether it might interest you enough, or whether it's simply not your cup of tea...I hope you enjoy what I do with this idea xxx

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**Chapter I ~ A New Beginning **

**(KLAUS)**

I sat intrigued on my throne, listening intently to Carmen Ortega, one of my most loyal witches, as she was telling me of a land she had found that had a beautiful princess who, as a human, could stomach the blood and organs of animals. She described the princess as a bride fit for a King, which I am – The King of the hybrid nation I had founded in the woods surrounding Mystic Falls.

I was unusually of two minds as to what to do regarding this new information, which had I not seen some unbelievable and astounding things during my long existence on this earth, I would have killed the witch who brought the farfetched story to me within the first sentence of the narrative. I believed Carmen because she had been loyal to me for years, not even hesitating, when her own brother tried to betray me, to inform me instantly of his disloyalty. She seemed excited about this new world she had been given the power to see through the eyes of a witch from that world.

"The witch, who is called Shurti Sheb Kuûm travels with the princess as part of her horde as they are searching for a city to take them in." I began to listen again to her story, trying to understand how this was relevant to me, "She, the princess, is called Daenerys 'Stormborn' of the House Targaryen and a Khaleesi, which is the title of Queen, which her tribe, the Dothraki have given her."

I raised my hand to pause her in her tale, "Tell me, Carmen, love, if this Daenerys is so powerful as to be my equal, why is she in need of a city to provide her with shelter? She cannot be as great a princess as you say if she is unable to provide her own people with what they need."

Carmen looked uneasily at her feet but soon became aware that I did not wait for answers for long, so replied, "My king, she is a widow and I believe, the vision was sent to me so that she might have a king to lead her people with her and so that you might find a consort who fits your needs."

I now was very intrigued, and smiled at Carmen, "And what, pray, are the needs which are not met in the queen I have taken?"

Her response to the question I had just posed would determine whether she lived or died, for I was all for her explaining her vision to me and she always did what she could for my cause, no matter her own personal sacrifice, but should she insult or disrespect my queen, whom I dote on, nothing would make me spare her life, which no matter what she had done for me, was still inconsequential to me.

I could see her formulating her response in her mind before she answered me – a clever move. "Queen Caroline is a beautiful and well-loved queen and I hold her in the greatest regard, but you had to take her with force, sire, she did not wed you willingly. She took you as her husband and liege lord to save her friends and her mother...You need and should have a queen who comes to you gladly and on equal terms."

It grieved me, but what she said was true...I did force Caroline to marry me and live with me in this mansion as my queen and after ten years, she was an obliging and obedient wife, who now held me in great affection, she did not love me, but it was enough for me, as there was enough love for her in my heart for the two of us. Maybe, Carmen had a point, for I loved Caroline and I always would, but she would not have married me on her own terms. It took a dagger to her mother's heart and a stake hanging above Tyler Lockwood to make her agree to live with me as my consort.

"You may leave, Carmen, but stay near. I will consult with you later, after I have thought more on this subject." With that, I waved her away flippantly with my hand.

I sat unmoving in the depths of thought, weighing up my need for a suitable and commanding queen against the desire to hold fast onto Caroline, whom I had fought hard to get, so it seemed a dreadful waste to let her go so soon...

Hours passed and the sunlight which had been streaming through the old fashioned stain glass window had long since been replaced with the comforting darkness that night brought. Caroline was expected back from her hunt and she would see that something was troubling me. For someone who really didn't love me, she was exceptionally talented at perceiving distress and uneasiness in my general manner.

As if by magic, my dear wife walked gracefully into the atrium, her beautiful, sapphire blue gown untainted by her hunt. Despite being a common girl from town, she carried herself with poise beyond her station – I wouldn't have expected an Italian Duchessa to have such a regal bearing – it was one of the things I had first noticed about her which made me fall in love with her. Her blonde hair was neatly pulled back into a loose French twist with her beautiful curled hair flowing down her back – she looked a bit like Cinderella. I grinned to myself, as I know, with her still girlish humour; she would have found that comparison hilarious. Especially as she refused to believe that I found her the most genuinely beautiful woman I've ever seen.

She saw me and smiled amiably and inclined her head slightly, "Klaus."

I returned her greeting, "Caroline, my dear. Won't you join me for a moment?" I gestured to her throne, a more girly throne, splendid in silver and blue velvet, where mine was dark wood and black leather – altogether a more imposing throne, I felt.

She did not reply, but merely ascended the dais, which raised the thrones from the floor, and sat down slowly in her seat and looked as though she was giving an audience as she declined to relax her posture, even though I was the only other soul in the room.

As I anticipated, Caroline did sense there was something different about my behaviour and frowning asked, "Klaus, what's troubling you?" I wondered at how even the way in which she spoke had altered since our marriage. She now had a gentle lilt with a sophisticated English accent, similar to my own. I was surprised that I had never noticed the change before now, but I suppose I had never had cause to examine Caroline's suitability as my queen until now.

"Caroline, love, I want you to be honest with me and don't hold back. You know how I value your honesty." I reminded her of one of the sketches I had gifted her before we got married, "Just answer this question please. I know you don't love me and I know that you never wanted this life as my wife and queen, but firstly, are you happy? Secondly, if another, more appropriate and willing woman wished to be my queen, how would you _truthfully_ feel?"

I watched her intently as she pondered the questions, giving nothing away before she wanted me to know it – she had learned much in the way of controlling her expressions and emotions, as she used to be transparent in her feelings – finally, she inhaled loudly and said, "Klaus, if you had asked me five or ten years ago whether I wanted to be your wife, then I would have vehemently refused, but being direct now, I would have to tell you that I've been your queen for so long that I can't imagine life away from your side and away from our subjects...I have nothing to go back to now, everyone's accepted I'm not coming back as the Caroline Forbes they once cared for, because I'm more yours now than I am theirs. I care deeply for the work I do as your queen and the help I am to you as your wife, because honestly again, you would not be as great a king as you are if I was not constantly by your side. Your sister and brother are good counsel but they, like you, have no compassion for others' plights. Rebekah also is still not fully at ease in today's world and Elijah is too distant for the good of our people."

She knew she had to continue, for I mostly desired to hear her answer to my second question, but she took a break to collect her thoughts. "To answer your second question, you must first tell me why you've suddenly begun thinking about women who you might deem more suitable for you than me."

Clever Caroline! She really had sussed me out. She never missed a trick or a change in character. "It's nothing really, only something Carmen was talking to me about today." I was well aware I had dodged the question and that she would not accept that answer, but I did not want to divulge the entirety of what I was deliberating to her just yet.

"Klaus..." She prompted.

"Yes, my love, all right." It was evident that I had no choice but to be utterly straight and up front with her – she wouldn't accept anything less... "Carmen was here because she said she had a vision of another world, separate to this one, where another witch lived. She saw things through the eyes of this witch: a widowed princess who roams the wilderness searching for a city to harbour her and her people. Carmen said she is a powerful woman and according to Carmen, a more suitable consort for me...than you." I said the final two words reluctantly, for I had no desire to cause Caroline any pain.

I observed my wife as she shifted uneasily in her throne, her hands moving to the arms and clutching them with white knuckles. I sought to reassure her, "Caroline..." but she raised her hand to silence me.

She asked in a strained voice, "This...princess...can she be transported her through magic?" I could see her eyes, wishing and waiting for me to deny that possibility, but I would not lie to Caroline for the entire world, particularly not just after I demanded absolute honesty from her.

I winced as I replied, "Carmen believes it is possible to send people from world to world, although as I understand it, it requires a blood ritual." She nodded, understanding the implication of the blood ritual, for she had witnessed one before. "Carmen also was of the opinion that it would not be the Targaryen princess who would be brought here first of all, but that Carmen would convey me to the world in which she lives, so I can persuade her to accompany me back with her people to be safe here, and then the witches would return us to Mystic Falls."

Caroline's eyes widened with the prospect of my leaving the world and travelling alone to some faraway place where I knew nobody and had no allies or protection, anything might happen. Although Caroline bore no love for me, we both knew that her survival and rich lifestyle depended on my protection now and my love for her remaining constant and enough for me to want her. I watched her as she reflected upon what her life would be were I to abandon her to my siblings, who would not accept her as a figure of authority over them, which as queen, she was and what would become of her if I brought back another woman to create as my queen in her place.

I reached over to her and gently caressed the soft skin on her hand. She looked up with fearful eyes and she asked timidly, "And you would coronate the Targaryen?" As if that thought did not worry her enough, she then asked even more anxiously, "You would _marry_ the Targaryen?"

I looked her in the eye and said, "My wife, my queen and my dearest love, I do not know...for as much as I do truly love you, Carmen is right. You do not love me and you did consent to be my wife under the greatest duress, so if the Targaryen girl did take me willingly and with more than the fondness that you did, then I would make her queen above you." Upon hearing this, Caroline emitted a heartbreaking sob of desperation. "I'm not saying I would just cast you out and leave you stranded, love, you know that I keep my promises, and I promised you on our wedding day, in our vows, that as long as I am living, you would always have a place at my side. Now, I'm just wondering whether your place by my side should be as my queen..."

I watched her as she quickly rose from her seat and flashed out of the atrium. I knew then what my course of action would be. All of this hypothesising was purely academic until I saw and met the Targaryen princess, so in that moment, my decisiveness having returned, I was resolved that the best course of action was for me to leave Mystic Falls for this foreign land, but I could not depart until I arranged my own affairs and gave my orders for the time when I would be away.

* * *

I went to my bed to take some rest for the remainder of what was an eventful night, but when I awoke the next morning and found Elijah and Rebekah already in counsel with Caroline, who had obviously already enlightened them of the words I had spoken last night, I told them what I had decided to do.

When I instructed all three of them that Caroline was to be the full regent of my hybrid people while I was away, Rebekah and Elijah were unhappy with my decision but I told them that it was my bidding and it would be done – they would obey their queen, while she was still queen...Caroline, surprisingly, once I had arrived had become taciturn and sullen, completely out of character. It did pain me to see her so distressed and out of sorts because of my news, but there was nothing I could do to alleviate her worries or make her feel better.

After two hours of counsel, I broached my last issue, "Finally, in order to travel to this world, I have to complete a blood ritual, so I need a human, a vampire and a werewolf to sacrifice." Silence permeated the room, everyone uneasy at what, or more crucially, _who_ to suggest.

I was taken aback when Caroline spoke. "Klaus, I will be the vampire." At this announcement, the table stared at her in awe.

Angrily, I violently shook my head, "No..No! You are not sacrificing yourself, Caroline, not for a blood ritual!" I was shocked to the core that she had even thought to die in the blood ritual. Her dejected, unfamiliar slouching form made me feel pity for her but I had not imagined that she would feel so disheartened by my going that she would become a harbinger of doom." I laid my hand gently on her shoulder and squeezed it tenderly.

Elijah then spoke in his refined voice, with a detached tone, "I will find the victims for the ritual. I can have all three by Friday."

I nodded appreciatively. If there was someone who was unsentimental enough to procure victims for sacrifice, it was my eldest brother, Elijah.

Three days had passed and preparations had come along well for the blood ritual and transference spell which was to be done today. Elijah had fulfilled his role and had assured me that he was in possession of three victims to cull in the ritual. Caroline had become distant and completely withdrawn herself from my company, but I fervently hoped she would show up for the ritual and the spell, for I needed to say goodbye and see her before I quit this world.

Carmen had everything in readiness and the pentagram was already outlined on the grassy terrain of the clearing in the middle of the woods, where we were to perform the blood ritual. In each section of the pentagram, stood a key participant in the ritual: Carmen as the presiding witch, was standing, decked in crystals and silver jewellery, which would provide her with the extra boost of power she required to see the spell through, in the height of the pentagram, I was standing in the central region of the pentagram, the section where the power would be concentrated. In the four other divisions of the pentagram was the human, who was an elderly woman about to die of cancer, the werewolf, who had been subdued with wolfsbane and was lying unconscious unaware that his death was fast approaching, the vampire, who was one of Rebekah's most recent spawn, whom Elijah had deemed upon meeting him to be a liability of a newly transitioned vampire, so he was chosen to die. In the last section, Carmen had said Caroline had to be there, not to die, but to give her blessing, as the ritual could not be completed without the consent of the closest person to the one who was to go to the other world. However, my dear wife, had not yet intimated that she intended to bestow her blessing on the ritual, so as far as her appearance went, the rest of us were on tenterhooks.

We waited in place for her arrival for about an hour, Elijah growing the most impatient, as he had to keep dosing the werewolf with wolfsbane to keep him submissive. I was sure she would come when she was ready and she would not let me down, as she never had before...and she did come eventually. When I saw her gliding towards me from the darkness of the trees, she looked like an angel, wearing the gorgeous gown I had bought her for our wedding, veil and all, looking exactly as flawless as she had that day – even her crestfallen expression which she had also worn on our wedding day that I found so beautiful was painted on her face.

Everyone watched her as if she were an actress in a Shakespeare tragedy, taking to the stage for her final soliloquy. She moved effortlessly to the vacant section of the pentagram and stood there looking at me sorrowfully and unwilling to bid me farewell with eyes glistening with her tears. This was how I wanted to leave the world, with the final thing I saw – her beautiful eyes...

In true, commanding form, _she_ nodded to Carmen, issuing the order to begin and a minute later, the blood of the three victims spilt onto the grass and as Carmen cast the spell, their blood mingled and flowed towards me. It did not stop when it reached my feet, but coursed up my legs and further up my body, coating me in the dark red, sticky liquid. My eyes stayed glued to Caroline's and just as the blood reached and covered my eyes, Caroline mouthed, "Come back." And that was the final thing I saw in that world...


	2. The Dothraki Camp

**Chapter II ~ The Dothraki Camp**

**(KLAUS)**

The first thing I became aware of after watching Caroline's face be erased by a wash of red blood was the painful feeling of being jabbed at with some form of curved blade in the hands of a dark-skinned youth with black curly hair and dressed in a suit of leather armour, tightly clad to his well-built torso. I was lying face down on a hard sandy terrain with a dry throat and feeling a distinct fatigue that I had not felt since the days when I was a human.

The man was speaking to me in a foreign tongue which I did not understand and my throat felt too dry to utter a word. In a brief moment, I felt a touch of doubt at my decision to come here and wondered whether Caroline had been right all along to discourage me from doing this. I groaned in pain at the constant, forceful jabs that were being inflicted upon me. "Please, stop." I muttered almost inaudibly and I wondered if the man could understand me even if I had been able to speak audibly.

I gradually pushed myself up into a slouched standing position so that I could look the man in the eyes in an attempt to communicate my intention to cause no harm, a veritable "I come in peace". He carried on mumbling to himself in his strange language, but he seemed less disposed to harm or even kill me. Astride his horse, which I could see from my knowledge of horses had once been a magnificent creature, but now was starving to death – I must be in the right place…

Now that I was standing and appeared to he who discovered me, to be strong enough to go wherever it was that he was suggesting we go, he jabbed me with his weapon on in front of his horse. After _I _walked and _he_ rode for hours, my hybrid vision saw in the distance a spattering of dark brown tents against the pale hue of the sands. Thank God! I craved blood, but I knew I could not be presented to the princess whom I had journeyed so far to meet, already with blood on my hands.

As a sentry noticed us approaching out of the wilderness, as yet blind to whether we were friend or foe, he called all the people to come out and stand around a girl who had a striking appearance, I could tell, even from so far away. Unlike her people, she had a rare shade of platinum blonde hair, which was held back in braids, but she dressed the same as _all_ her people, with the exception of a middle-aged man who stood at her side, his hand already at the hilt of his sword – he wore steel armour, whereas all the other men and women were clad in the same leathery material that my riding friend was wearing.

Once we arrived in the midst of the camp itself, I observed that the people were about 6 women to one man, but the few men who were there, were all assembled in a defensive position around the Princess Targaryen, showing her a fierce loyalty. The onlookers stared at me, frightened, as I was led through a gauntlet of the Dothraki horde. Once we reached the important people, the rider behind me dismounted and gave his horse dismissively over to an equally starved looking woman, as I looked around me, I observed that everyone had a desperately hungry look about them – I was glad at this moment that I was not human – I wouldn't have put it past them to just cleave me into pieces on the spot and eat me, as a hybrid though, I wouldn't have tasted nice and I could have hacked off a piece of my flesh for them to cook and see…

Far be it from me to be rude to the princess in her own camp, so I bent my knee before her and confidently and as musically as I could with my husky English lilt said, "Greetings, princess of the noble House Targaryen. I have come to consult with you and help you in your struggles. Will you accept my company and my aid?"

I presumed she spoke English, or this whole thing was going to be a debacle and once I returned to Mystic Falls, Carmen's head would no longer be attached to her body…however, when I righted myself and looked at Daenerys 'Stormborn' in her pale eyes, I saw she understood my words, but there was another feeling, an unsure feeling of threat, danger and wonder, but I did not yet know why.

She pushed her way from behind her guards to face me and as she surveyed me, she said with bated breath, "You speak the tongue of Old Valyria, ser," She tilted her head slightly to deepen her gaze, "Only a few men in the whole of the land speak it. Pray, where did you learn to speak in that tongue?"

I had no idea where Old Valyria was, but I'd be damned if I let her know that. "My princess, I did not study the language – it is the language of _my _land, which lies far beyond the horizon of this world." Daenerys exchanged a puzzled and suspicious look with the only other pale person in her horde, before looking back at me. "I would speak with you alone in my tent, ser," With that she turned on her heels and although her right hand man wanted to stop her and offer some counsel, probably to convince her that being alone with me was a mistake, which she would have been wise to take heed of, but I meant her no harm.

I did as I was bid and followed her into her tent. What I beheld upon entering her tent, shocked me and nigh on gave me the greatest fright I've had since I was human…dragons! I was looking at…dragons! I quickly turned to her and asked incredulously, "Dragons exist in this world?" I pointed at the three beasts in their cages, "Dragons?"

She frowned at me, "You truly did not know they had been born?" I shook my head. "My lady, I did not know that dragons could be in your world at all, for mine is very much different."

She invited me to sit on a basic cot, with her, and she said, "Tell me about where you come from, ser?" Her eyes widened in horror as if she had committed a grievous crime by forgetting to ask what my name was. "A thousand pardons, ser, I do not know what came over me, perhaps the shock at your knowing Old Valyrian…but still, that is no way for a queen to behave, so you have my apologies."

Carmen had seen her character correctly, she was incredible…regal, confident, and able to command her people's love _and _respect. I smiled kindly at her, "It is of no consequence, my princess," She raised her hand, and assertively interrupted me, "Please, would you address me as 'Khaleesi', for it is how my people do and it is my proper title for the moment,"

I was impressed, "But, of course…Khaleesi," the word rolled off my tongue and if I had heard myself say it, I might almost been seduced, but alas, I could not seduce myself! "Khaleesi, my name is Klaus Mikaelson and I do believe that what you know as Old Valyria, where in all probability your ancestors came from?" I paused, looking for a confirmation of my understanding of the situation, she nodded, "Is what the people in my land call America."

She nodded, understanding everything, for the moment keeping her thoughts to herself, "And you are…the ruler of America?" I winced, as this was where I anticipated our conversation getting that little bit more complicated than it needed to be…but I replied nevertheless, not wanting to give her the impression that I was fabricating elaborate false tales about my kingdom and my own people, "Khaleesi, I will be honest with you," she looked at me in that moment with wisdom beyond her age, as she had probably heard many men begin tales and requests with that opening and knew that behind it was the very desire to deceive and to hide the truth. It was in a way, sad, that she had been so exposed to treachery and betrayal at so young an age to have lost her innocence to no longer be the ingénue it was clear she once was.

"I am a – how to put this delicately, while being open and frank – I am a powerful being, so I took my kingdom and made it." Hearing this, she became more attentive and her eyes glued to my face, "In Old Valyria, now, there are very few kingdoms; most of the world is governed by its people, but the place in Old Valyria which I rule is near a town called Mystic Falls. But like you, I and my subjects are shunned from civilization because we are different than them, but no more deserving. I have, at home, a seat of power and that is all, but we are not forced to lead a nomadic life like you, Khaleesi, and I understand and have felt the anguish you must now feel watching your people die of thirst, die of starvation because you did not fulfill your promise of their enemies dying screaming…"

She glared at me with raging, fiery eyes, unaccustomed to being so honestly and equally addressed. I could see that she knew I had spoken sense and although I was forceful in my delivery, she had admired me for my speech and was willing to consider accepting my company and my help, for even she could not be stubborn when her people were falling like flowers when winter came.

As she rose, I respectfully did the same and nodded my thanks for her hearing me out. She stood straight and true and turned to me and with the voice and manner that kings and queens have used for centuries in all worlds to address their _subjects_ and those under their control, she directed me to leave her tent, but not to stray too far, for she would tell me her decision after taking counsel.

I left the tent, passing her pale bodyguard, who examined me intently, making a fast judgement as to whether I was worthy of his, or more importantly, _his_ lady's trust. I had never missed a possessive air in all my years – it's what made me the most fearsome predator in the world – my knack for finding a person's greatest weakness and then using it…this man's unrequited love for his mistress would no doubt come in handy, as he might be the only obstacle between me and the Khaleesi.


	3. Tales of Old Valyria

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: _I hope you all enjoyed the last two chapters but it's time for Dany to have her point of view heard! This chapter is dedicated to my best friend, who is my Ser Jorah, my unwavering rock.

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**Chapter III ~ Tales of Old Valyria**

**(DAENERYS)**

We had been arguing for what seemed like forever, just over the stranger who had found our camp and come offering his help, which we so desperately needed – why couldn't Ser Jorah see that?

"Khaleesi, be reasonable! You don't know who he is, he could be anyone!" He stormed round my tent in a fit of anger, "I know you don't like to be told what to do, my lady, but you _must_ listen to my counsel – the man is probably a spy for the Baratheon boy king and is out to gain your trust until you trust him with your life – your precious life – and then he will stab you in the back just as the Lannister did the Mad King."

My ever cautious protector knew what he risked by bringing that horror to my mind. Even though I was his family, not even I could deny that Aerys Targaryen had been a terrible king – the slaughter of the Stark lords had been a gruesome business, so I was told, for I had not yet even been born. I hated to think of the eldest Lannister – the dishonourable traitor – betraying his own king when he was a member of the Kingsguard, no less. I was always suspicious of new faces ever since that incident with the wine merchant, whom I had not suspected of treachery and foul play merely because he looked simple and had a kind face.

I walked over to the entrance of my tent, which has always had two of my Queensguard standing watch outside. I made sure I could not been seen by any outside my tent, but I stood there a while and just watched, watched my people as they went about their business – mothers comforted their famished children, women sat round pots, preparing supper for the horde. Everyone had their role to play in life and Klaus had been right, it did wound me that my people were living up to their end of the bargain by being my disciples through this barren wilderness, it was I, who was failing, _The Mother of Dragons_ was failing!

I turned back to my chief advisor and said viciously, "Your counsel has proved as useful as the desert, Ser Jorah! Leave me, and on your way out, invite the stranger into my tent, I will see what help he can offer me, where you have given none!"

Ser Jorah looked pained at my words, my selfish words, I knew, but I could not retract them nor wish them unsaid now, for I had let my rage spill out as poison and suck the life out of the poor man who had stayed by my side loyally since the day I married Drogo. Drogo, a great leader of men, had never seen fit to speak harshly to the Andal knight, so why had I?

* * *

I was brought out of my self-pity by the voice of the stranger, "Khaleesi, how may I serve you?"

I scrutinized him with guarded eyes and said, "For a king, you are always so quick to be penitent before me. Are you sure you have told me the truth of who you are?"

He returned to his usual upright posture and said vehemently, "Khaleesi, I am in _your_ camp, among your soldiers and people. It is right that I should bow to you, as I am sure, were you to be a guest in my hall, you would pay me the same courtesy."

I eagerly answered, "Yes, of course, the only polite and noble thing to do." I was absent-minded and occupied with a great matter.

"Forgive me, Khaleesi, if I am too forward, but you seem distressed…Is there any way in which I might assist you?" His dulcet tone seemed so comforting and pliant but I had long learnt my lesson in believing men with kind voices.

I was fiddling inanely with a rope hanging from Drogon's cage but stopped to look at this prodigal stranger in his eyes…_his eyes_! "Klaus, your eyes…" his hands quickly went to his face and inspected the skin around his changed eyes, "they are black, where earlier they were blue."

He, I thought almost _fearfully_…began to run his hands through his hair. "Khaleesi, I ought to disclose something about what I am and who my subjects are to you. I apologise for not enlightening you before, but a dilemma I am certain you are familiar with…" he nodded to me, "whether to trust you or not prevented me from revealing my entire self."

He was right, that I was often torn between trust and wariness, but I was intrigued by the physical change I had seen in him, and I understood that as a ruler, he needed to hold certain secrets close to himself. "I assure you, Klaus, I do not mean you any harm or to betray you. But I warn you, I do not appreciate secrets."

Klaus could see the admonition in my eyes, which I meant to tell him, that although I did understand his reasons for concealing what he knew from me, I did not condone it, and were any more kept secrets revealed that might affect me or my people, I would not be so accommodating. He nodded, "Nor do I, Khaleesi, they are dangerous things…" His black eyes, which were now recalling an unpleasant incident from his past, avoided my own.

"So, please, spare us _all_ from the jeopardy that your secrets might bring, and tell me what you felt necessary to hide from me. You know, as a king, what is needed to protect your people: decisions, leadership and clemency. I exercised my clemency over you – a stranger who knows long-dead languages and who knows too much about me for someone who claims to be king in his own land – but now, I would have you tell me, Klaus, indeed _what _you are!"

His eyes reacted to my noticing that he had said 'what' instead of 'who' and most people did not have a 'what', because they were human. I knew, because of who I was, still a human, but a queen with a strange, supernatural quality, of which only some knew of, but members of my tribe suspected…

Klaus hesitated for a while, gathering his thoughts and forming his statement, before revealing anything to me, and then began his tale, "Khaleesi, my domain in the land, which you know as Old Valyria, is home to many unusual manners of beings. Each of the races has their own leader and their own king. I am one of these kings. The greater land is ruled over by men, one man with a council governs Old Valyria – he is called the President, but the land is so vast and contains so many, that within Old Valyria, there exists many smaller kingdoms, ruled over by…" he took a breath as he searched for the right word, "vassal kings – mayors – who answer to the President. These mayors, however, throughout Old Valyria only govern the humans who have no magic. Most do not know that Old Valyria still has magical and supernatural beings, but the land where I live, the human mayor knows the truth of this and so she-"

My eyes widened as I heard this, "She! Your kingdom has a queen?" I was surprised that in the land of Old Valyria, queens held power, for in the stories Viserys had told me of when our ancestors had ridden dragons from the land, only the men were present in the seat of power, however, I soon learnt from Ser Jorah's wedding present that Viserys often warped the tales of old to suit himself, for had I discovered that women could reign over the men, I might not now be a Khaleesi or the Mother of Dragons.

"Yes, Khaleesi, many of the vassal states are presided over by powerful, ambitious women. Anyway, the mayor of the humans knows of the existence of supernatural beings, beings that preyed on her subjects and took her power away from her over many, many years. So, she made a treaty with the three leaders of the supernatural beings who terrorized her people, agreeing to keep the secret of our existence from other humans while allowing us to take the people we had need of and establish ourselves and our subjects permanently in the area surrounding her locality."

I frowned, "So, this queen was bullied by you and two others of your kind and for her people's sake gave you her reins of power?" The implications of his story worried me greatly and I had not yet seen proof that he did not intend to relieve me of my own power, as he had done with the…mayor, in his own country.

Klaus squinted, seeing my uncertainties, but answered, "We did not seek to remove her from power, Khaleesi, merely…_limit_ her power, to those she could and had a right to control. For, she was unknowingly set above us, at the start not knowing we existed at all, and then when she did discover our way of life, she tried to exterminate us. We were hunted, slaughtered and tortured by her and her people, until three of us assembled and faced her, and her son whom we had in our keeping, and presented our terms."

Another evocative memory was brought to my mind, upon hearing that this woman had a son, "You had the boy?" When I noticed Klaus' eyes quickly contort, I knew that what I inferred at his description of the boy's situation had been correct, "You tortured the boy?"

Klaus then looked at me with grave eyes, "No less had been done to us on her orders. She did not even know that her own son was one of us! She thought he was human, when on his father's side – he was half a supernatural being! We did not kill him though, whereas many of our kinds had been killed, the treaty had to be agreed, so we spared her child."

It had become tiresome for me now, as he still had not told me in sufficient detail, what he was, so I prompted him, "What are _your kinds_, Klaus?"

He let out a troubled sigh, "Khaleesi, I will tell you our names, and I will show you, but I will not tell you too much on this occasion, for you will need time to think upon what I am about to tell you. _I_ am the King of the hybrid nation, which is one of the supernatural races, the others being that of vampire and werewolf." He stopped to observe how I received this new information, but when it appeared my countenance was not going to change, he went on.

"All I will say now, is that a werewolf is a man who can change into a creature similar to the direwolf, which you have here in your world and a vampire is a man who has extreme speed, a power to control people and can grow fangs like a dragon instantly,"

At hearing about dragons, I asked, "Men who can become dragons?"

"Similar to dragons, Khaleesi, they cannot breathe fire, nor do they have wings. They can grow razor-sharp fangs, which can easily bite through bone and tear through flesh, their skin resists all manner of weapons, unless made with one substance, and they can live forever without ageing." My eyes were widening with his every description of the powers of these beings, but _he_ wasn't one of these vampires, or werewolves…

"Klaus, what _exactly_ is a hybrid?" I asked with keen eyes.

He did not answer me at once, but walked away from me in a manner so as I did not mistake it for disrespect. With a heavy tone, he finally said, "A hybrid is a mix of the vampire and werewolf. I was the first, born from a mother who committed adultery with a werewolf, then turned all her children into vampires. The hybrids who are my subjects are my army, my progeny. I was, for centuries, a vampire, until I found a way to use both my active vampire powers _and_ awaken my dormant werewolf nature. Then, I became the most powerful of them all."

He sounded sad as he said that and it was heartbreaking. But as I heard his words, it became clear that I would struggle, should the need present itself, to control him in my camp and protect my people from this predatory beast which he was.

I didn't as a person, as a woman, want to ask him this, but as a queen, it was vital that I did. "Klaus, what weapons can subdue the supernatural beings?"

He turned and looked at me with a hurt expression, but gave me a response, "For werewolves, the herb called wolfsbane, which you won't find in this desert, for vampires, wooden weapons, which can be sharpen sticks, or an herb called verveine. For hybrids, decapitation or ripping out their hearts will end their lives, as it would vampires." He looked gravely at me for a second, "But Khaleesi, there is no weapon in this world which could kill me, and there is no man alive who is strong enough to defeat me. I do not wish to cause any harm to you or your people, though, so that wouldn't be a problem." He smiled to reassure me of his good intentions.

I was made uneasy by his words and his indestructibility, but I returned his smile, somewhat apprehensively, "Klaus, would you mind stepping out, so I might have time to think?" It was unusual for me to _request_ anyone to do anything, but for the first time since Drogo had died, I felt as if I was with my equal and someone who commanded as much respect as I did, I just hadn't had to deal with other rulers before, so was unpracticed in the way of that form of respect.

He acquiesced and with a gentle nod, walked calmly from my tent, leaving me to its now unsettling silence…for I had much to dwell upon now, and many decisions to make.


	4. Trial & Error

**Chapter IV ~ Trial & Error**

**(KLAUS)**

Leaving Daenerys' tent, I had started to have hope that she was all I was told she would be. She had a royal presence of mind and body, instilled in her from birth, where Caroline had learnt late how to conduct herself according to her station and power. Daenerys even presided over her people as a queen, when presented with a difficult and dangerous situation – like a stranger turning up knowing too much – she took time to deliberate and decide, instead of rushing into badly thought out plans of action. Needless to say, I was impressed.

While my own mind lingered on badly thought out plans, my hunger was becoming absolutely intolerable to me. I longed for the taste and comfort of human blood flowing down my throat. I had not fed in..._so long_. I have never denied my hunger for so long before, as there was never a need when I was in America, but here, I was in a different sort of world entirely – a world where I could not feed freely.

I was pacing rapidly and maniacally between two of the biggest tents. I could hear that within one were the handmaidens of the Khaleesi, who were contentedly chatting away in their strange Dothraki language. The other was empty, but as it was the next closest to the queen's tent, I assumed it was the tent of either her bodyguards or the Mormont knight. I did not care if the girls overheard my worried pacing, they would be powerless to do anything.

It was one thing I resented my hybrids...the lack of hunger. They could transform at their or my will, so those who were unwilling to change at every full moon could avoid it most of the time. Werewolves did not lust after the blood of mortals, so they did not have a natural thirst for blood, but vampires did. The vampire nature of the created hybrids was for the most part dormant, as far as hunger was concerned, but for me...the Original Hybrid, the hunger was ingrained into my being and each feeling that passed through me.

I felt the need for blood overwhelm my consciousness entirely and I felt my resistance disappear as the hunger took over. It was unfortunate that one of the handmaidens happened to come upon me in my bestial state...poor Doreah!

She saw me. My eyes already hued with yellow and black, my fangs were pushing through my gums, changing my face into that of a ferocious beast. The survival instinct in me said I could not let her scream and alert the camp to my new self, so I flashed with inhuman speed to her and snapped her neck with inhuman ease. There was no blood and no sound. I looked around to see if anyone had witnessed my savage murder, but on seeing no one, I whipped round and sped away, taking the limp corpse of Doreah with me.

I went into a vacant tent on the outer rim of the encampment with the body of the dead girl, my hybrid nature still prevailing. I dropped her onto the floor and plunged down beside her. I brought my fangs to her pale, unmoving throat and stabbed, releasing a flow of blood. I felt the rusty and satisfying taste of the red liquid as it entered my mouth and suddenly my hunger was relieved. I drained her body of all its life force – she was already dead, so it still seemed a shame to let her blood go to waste.

As I finished with her and began to ponder how I ought to dispose of her corpse in this wasteland that had no woodland (unhelpfully!), I heard the sounds of an outcry in the camp and bodies swarming towards the tent...

* * *

**(DAENERYS)**

"What is it? What's happened?" I asked frantically as I saw the throng of people angrily searching through the tents.

Ser Jorah, as always in times of trouble, found my side, replying, "It's Doreah, Khaleesi." He said hastily, "Doreah and the stranger." He added.

I frowned. I had only just parted with Klaus. What could he have done in such a short space of time...and with my maid? "What's happened?"

The mob was now reaching the very edge of the camp and they were gaining in speed and passion in their search for the two. I did not need Ser Jorah to reply to my renewed question, as the tent we entered next contained Klaus and..._Doreah?_

I wanted to run in and tend my handmaiden, but Jorah restrained me and placed himself between me and Klaus, who was leaning over Doreah lifting her arm up, as if about to carry her off. My face contorted once I took in Doreah's final expression. Her once beautiful, flawless face was now twisted in pain and shock, never to be serene again. My eyes were drawn to her slender neck, which had a bloody wound in it, caused by some beast with sharp lion's teeth.

Ser Jorah cried out, "Seize him!" The closest men obeyed him and lunged for Klaus, who after the initial retreat clearly caused by the shock of being assailed, stood stock still and permitted the Dothraki men to pull him into their strong grip and bear him away to the stockade.

I examined him intently as he was pulled away. His eyes met mine and they were still a foreign, alien, monstrous colour, but they were pleading and innocent. They were eyes incapable of the atrocity that was the wilful murder and feasting on Doreah. I just didn't know what to make of all of it...

As the men bore Klaus away, the womenfolk were left to see to Doreah's lifeless body. Irri and Jhiqui were wailing incessantly, flinging dirt about and covering themselves in it, as the time-honoured traditions dictated, but I, silently, approached where she lay and arranged her in a sleeping position and closed her eyes, hiding their fear and suffering from view. As her queen, it fell to me to perform her last rites and to lay the final blessings upon her body. I placed my hand softly on her forehead and spoke a prayer, commending her to the gods. As I spoke, I recalled the time when Doreah, the whore my brother had bought for me so he could have pleasure from her, instructed me in the arts of love. I felt ashamed as I had not realised it prior to this, that had she not have done her job so well, I would not have loved Drogo so. For she, and only she, turned what was rape into love-making.

I wept for her now; for all that she had meant to me and could have been to someone else had she been allowed to live. I left her to my other attendants, for I was needed elsewhere...to pronounce my judgement.

When I arrived in the main part of the camp, Klaus was bound and kneeling on the ground, encircled by the livid men of my horde. I knew that they would demand blood for blood, life for life, but I needed to hear Klaus speak before I decided upon a fitting punishment.

I took my place at the head of the group, in between Ser Jorah and Rakharo. Rakharo turned to me with tears in his eyes and said in Dothraki tongue, "Khaleesi, you must execute the murderer!" He looked at his comrades, "We demand his blood as the price for Doreah's."

I silenced him with my hand, before I approached Klaus slowly, also waving away Ser Jorah's protests. I had faith that there was something amiss here, for the man who was all chivalrous and well-mannered in my tent could not have been the same man who had ravaged Doreah. Many would interpret my closeness to the man as courage and fearlessness, but I didn't feel a need to be afraid, for this man would not harm me.

I stood above Klaus, but looked down at him with kind, merciful eyes, and asked, "Klaus, what is the meaning of all of this? Is Doreah's death truly your doing?"

He replied forlornly, "Khaleesi, I fully and honestly confess that your maid's death was at my hand, but I have something that I need to explain further to you on that account, for all is not as it appears to be."

I acknowledged this with raised eyebrows, "What a cryptic thing to say...when one of my people lies dead. However, I will hear you." As I saw the astounded faces of the men around me, I continued, "As a king, it is what is due to you and as a queen, it is expected of me to comply with traditional protocols."

"So, speak."

"Khaleesi, I had previously told you of what I am but I foolishly, perhaps, decided to omit some details. I spoke to you of the supernatural beings of America and their powers, but I should have added this," he took in a breath, "that in order to survive, those creatures called vampires have to..."

His hesitation was unsettling, for as I said, I did not welcome secrecy. I gestured impatiently for him to carry on, as although I was willing to afford him the courtesy of a trial, I did not want it to be a long, drawn-out affair, for it was not the Dothraki way – in fact none of this diplomacy was the Dothraki way, so I was pushing it!

"Vampires have to feed on the blood of humans to survive!" He paused, taking in my reaction. I chose to keep my peace for the time being, so he continued, "Normally, Khaleesi, I am able to feed without the needless slaughter of my victims, but because I travelled from Old Valyria to here, my hunger grew and I had no desire to cause harm to you or any of your subjects, so I resisted the urge to feed...fruitlessly, so it would seem."

I was mellowed by his tale. I did not forgive him for taking the life of Doreah so cruelly, but I could see by the anxiety in his face and hear by the desperation in his voice, that he was speaking the whole truth to me. My awaited verdict did depend on one detail in particular, so I clarified it, "Klaus, you say that usually if you feed regularly and little by little, the vessel is not killed?"

He nodded, his face brightening slightly in hope of my forgiveness.

I hesitated a moment, considering his words and what I recalled of what he had told me earlier in my tent, before pronouncing, "I, Daenerys Targaryen, _pardon_ this man, this king for his actions, as I have deemed them to be compulsive and unavoidable. I declare, however," I looked pointedly at Klaus, "that should this man be caught with blood on his hands again and a victim who does not wake after he feeds and _heals_ them, he be arrested immediately and burned."

I beheld the reaction of my people to the unconventional verdict I had decided upon, but after a few moments of bickering and appealing my decision, they disbanded and returned to their business after they cut the cords which restrained Klaus – even though, now, I knew that in reality, should he have wanted or needed to escape his bonds, he could have...he was playing a game. But to what end? Had I done the right thing by my people by allowing him to keep playing?


	5. Food & Affection

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: _Many, many apologies for being useless in writing and updating. I have had academic and personal issues to deal with, so actually what I might have got down had I the opportunity to write would have been shoddy! I am aiming to get back on my usual schedule for writing this story, especially as I'm now halfway through – so I hope you'll carry on reading until the end.

* * *

**Chapter V ~ Food & Affection**

**(KLAUS)**

We had been wandering around the wilderness for weeks since my…indiscretion. The Dothraki were a strong people, even the women and children were coping better than I would have expected, but now I could see that the weaker among them were beginning to struggle with the heat, the starvation, the thirst and with the hopelessness of the entire situation.

I knew, from experience of dealing with my own setbacks, that this was when I was most likely to see the _real_ queen, how she would really act as my consort. Hardship and obstacles defined rulers and always would – you can't judge a sovereign during peace or serenity, only during wartime and tribulation does a person show their true colours. She had been handling herself well, dealing with her god awful situation as best as she was able, though it was apparent that she was young and inexperienced for the role into which she had been thrust. I had observed her in the way she handled her subjects, how she dealt with an utterly desperate situation, how she planned what her options were and although she seemed to rely way too heavily on Mormont, she was a natural ruler and commander of her people.

Now, people were beginning to perish and they were dying horrible, slow and agonizing deaths. The Khaleesi was beginning to buckle under the unspoken reprimands of her people. As their self-proposed leader, her duty was to safeguard them but she could not seem to find them a haven where there was food and water.

I was anxious to provide her with my own counsel, but under the advisement of the cautious Ser Jorah Mormont, she was hesitant to renew my invitation into her tent. I was not surprised, but it did disappoint me that after seeming to accept my sincere apologies for the death of her handmaiden and pardon me in front of her people who were quite prepared to lynch me, she had not met with me at all. I have been known, however, to be an ace at observation and I had observed her stealing quick, fleeting glances at me, but not with any fear or unease but with patience and almost…longing.

I spent my days mostly in solitude, as the people were still hateful towards me for killing one of their Khaleesi's servants. I had fed on both the humans and the horses as Daenerys had assigned two of each to satisfy my appetite without depleting her resources. In fact, my food vessels were the healthiest of all the creatures and people in her camp. After I reflected on this for a while, a grand idea occurred to me…

* * *

**(DAENERYS)**

"Ser Jorah, how long will we be able to stand this endless wandering? My people are _dying_. They are dying! I see their furtive accusing stares and every time I inspect the camp they whisper among themselves blaming me for all their sufferance that I should have been able to prevent!" I shouted at the Bear.

He looked at me with exhausted eyes, "Khaleesi, you know if I could, I would find a way out of this dire wasteland for you and spare you this anguish, but I do not know a solution. I'm not even sure I know where we are…"

I nodded. I knew Jorah would have already offered me a way out if he had thought of one, but we were all stuck roaming around without a true goal and tragically aware that time was running out for everyone…it already had for two women in my khalasar.

I had grown weary of hearing that my choices and paths were being taken away, along with my people, by this barren, arid desert. "You may leave, Ser Jorah. I thank you for your counsel." I granted him a small smile to show his dismissal was kindly meant and with a bow, he took his leave from my presence.

After I sat for a time in my tent pondering what trials faced me, I decided I had to go out and see my people and how they were faring. When I stepped out, I was hit by the strangulating heat and lack of air. The atmosphere of this place was unbearable to me, a white-haired Targaryen, born in a cold and windy storm. Although I had spent years in Vaes Dothrak, the Dothraki Sea and the surrounding humid grasslands which the khalasar travelled through, I still was ill-prepared for the heat that came with this harsh, nomadic life.

I strolled around just watching my people in their daily pursuits, some acknowledging me, some unaware of me. I sometimes wondered if I envied these people, who got to do normal things during the day and have normal relationships. It was something I had never experienced – my upbringing by Viserys had always centred on us being special and deposed royalty who would one day return to power in Westeros. It was always expected that I treat Viserys more as my overlord and my ruler, so I did and when I was sold as chattel to Drogo, I was his possession in the beginning and then I became his Khaleesi, a co-ruler of his khalasar and then I killed him, which put me in sole charge of our people. I never got to make my husband dinner, or brush my child's hair or be told off by my parents as the common people are. I loved my people and my dragons as a mother does her child, but a part of my heart felt empty and broken at the small things which I would never experience.

As I weaved through the tents and avoided the fire pits, some alight, some with the embers dwindling, I thought about the one person whom I had been avoiding like the plague – Klaus… Since Doreah's death, I had to distance myself from him so I did not appear under his influence and control before my people but I had been longing to speak to him and to talk to him. I had surprised myself when I first realized I had been thinking about him, as I had never actively needed someone who was not my husband so much before. It did not take me long to discover the reason why – he was the first person who had come into my life since Drogo was taken from me who was my _equal_. He was also so much more experienced at dealing with subjects and the responsibility that accompanied the control a ruler has…I desperately needed to make use of that knowledge and wisdom, but for the sake of appearances, I had restrained my urge to go running to him and ask if he knew of a solution.

While I contemplated when it would be acceptable for me to ask Klaus into my tent again, my subconscious had instructed my legs to find the hybrid – and they did. I realized too late what I had unintentionally done and I came upon a scene which jolted me out of my daydream.

I was standing outside Rhenissi's small tent when I glimpsed Klaus inside. I was astounded…one of the original Dothraki tribeswomen had permitted this being into her tent – and she had a young son! Before Klaus noticed me, I swiftly concealed myself behind the tent walls so I could watch the scene that unfolded before me through a small hole in the entrance. I checked the tent for other people and I saw that Rhenissi was crouching nervously on the opposite side to Klaus, but I did not see Bhorgo until Klaus stepped aside revealing the child lying pale and wan on the cot.

Had Klaus fed on him and used that mind-control trick to prevent the mother from protecting her child? I had made sure he had blood to quench his thirst – sacrificed two of my good horses for him – and this was how he repaid me! I was about to storm into the tent and make my indignation known, when Klaus spoke to Rhenissi in a calm and soothing voice.

"Hush, there now, no need to be afraid any more. Your child will be just fine." He approached her with his hands spread in a surrender.

Rhenissi whimpered and shifted maniacally, clearly scared for her life. Normally, I would have comforted her at once, but I was curious to see what Klaus had done for Bhorgo and whether Rhenissi might trust the vampire, whom she could only view as a predator and enemy.

Klaus continued his approach, upon reaching her; he knelt down and rubbed her arms quieting her fears and showing he meant her no harm. She gripped his left arm tightly and pulled back the recently loosened sleeve. She examined his wrist frantically, searching for something that was no longer there. When she spoke and asked him in the Dothraki tongue, I understood that he had donated some of his own blood to Bhorgo to heal him from the rapid effects of starvation and heat exhaustion that were coursing through his small body. From what Rhenissi was saying, I understood that Bhorgo had been at death's door before Klaus had arrived and pulled him back into the land of the living.

Klaus then did something…._extraordinary_! He removed his hand from Rhenissi's grip and brought it to his mouth. With his other hand, he firmly gripped her hair and pulled her head towards him, then in an instant before she could protest, he placed his dripping wrist into her mouth and watched her drink. It dawned on me that this man was saving my people, he had actually come up with a solution to my people dying from the conditions of this fatal desert!

As Klaus deemed she had consumed enough of his lifeblood, he withdrew his wrist and gently thumbed away the remnants of the red liquid from Rhenissi's lips. He then massaged the blood on his thumb into his wrist over the two marks that leaked profusely.

"There…done. Nothing to worry about, love," Klaus reassured her. I watched as some of the colour which had been absent from so many of my people's faces returned and she became the beautiful woman she had been rather than the gaunt, tired-looking harridan than she had been as of late.

I decided that this was the moment to enter the tent and speak to Klaus, for now there was a member of the khalasar whom the others trusted implicitly to defend Klaus and tell a story of how he saved her and her child from death. I did not say anything, for I knew once Rhenissi saw me she would bow as all the other women did when I came into their tents.

I asked Rhenissi to leave us alone for a while and to go and sit with Jhiqui – a high honour for a common woman to be invited to the handmaidens' quarters. Klaus looked surprised to see me, but my presence was evidently not unwelcome by his subtle smirk.

"I saw you, Klaus. I saw how you saved her," my voice caught in my throat, "I don't know how to thank you."

He bowed slightly, "Khaleesi, I took a life, it seemed fitting that I should give some lives back to those who do not deserve to lose them."

I returned his smile, "She will now spread the story of Klaus the Saviour," he let out a chuckle, "so now I feel able to publically accept you back into my tent."

He was still warmly beaming at me, "I am grateful, Khaleesi, it has been too long since I was in your benevolent company."

Now, I felt something stir within me for this man, who might be the only one to help me get my people through our long search for a haven.


	6. Lovers & Loves of Past Lives

**Chapter VI ~ Lovers & Loves of Past Lives**

**(KLAUS)**

I dreamt of Caroline last night. I had not thought about her as much as I felt I should have and I was feeling guilty… She was my wife, after all, and I did love her. I dreamt that she was tied up with verveine infused ropes and her wrists were bloody and scratched, her eyes were weeping tears of blood, her sapphire blue gown stained with blood. It was a gruesome scene. She was weak but she still mustered the strength to call my name, willing me to rescue her from the violent death that awaited her. I wanted to reach out and grab her and to tear her from her bonds, but sleeping prevented me.

It was as if Caroline really knew my thoughts were drifting from her, so she had invaded my mind forcefully, taking back what she knew was hers, not the Khaleesi's, for that was most definitely who my thoughts and feelings were sailing towards. I could do nothing to stop that. Daenerys Targaryen had overwhelmed me utterly, my mind sent into jitters by her courage and clemency and...just _her_. She was a beautiful woman, not more beautiful than Caroline, but she had something different that was stunning to me. There was something magical about her, which I could not (and did not wish to) escape.

Today, though, my heart was heavy with thoughts of home and my wife. When I left Mystic Falls, my purpose had been set in stone in my mind, but as I spent time here and got to know the people and their ruler, my plans seemed to be open to change. I had witnessed the passion, determination and ultimate ambition of the Khaleesi and I did wonder whether I could ever bring myself to take such a woman away from her people, her destiny and her birthright so she could sit at my side and fulfill a role that was, really, beneath her dignity and breeding.

During the days after I saved Bhorgo and his mother, I had been allowed back into her tent and we discussed her plans for the future. She wanted to invade the Seven Kingdoms and reclaim them for the Targaryens, she wanted to see her dragons grow into beasts that instilled terror and reverence in all who looked upon them, but most of all she wanted to prove the prophecy of the maegi who had caused her husband's death wrong. She desired a family and the return of her husband, or one who was able and good enough to take his place. My mind strayed to wonder if it was her destiny to follow me to America, or whether it was my fate to remain here and be _her_ consort and leave Caroline to rule over my own kingdom back home…

As this disturbingly selfless thought pervaded my mind, pushing all other arrogant and selfish thoughts away, I shifted uncomfortably on my horse. If my sharp movement had not startled the creature so much that I nearly was thrown from its back, I might have argued myself out of returning home, which seemed a distant and stupid possibility now that I had been jolted out of that thought process. I chuckled to myself at how Daenerys was affecting me that the possibility had even entered my mind at all!

Once I had righted myself, I noticed two of Daenerys' bloodriders sniggering unkindly at my near humiliation. I had learnt that should a rider fall from their mount, the disgrace was great and they could lose their horse and when a Khal or Khaleesi was dismounted, they were deemed no longer worthy to be at the head of the khalasar. When Ser Jorah had told me this a few nights ago in Daenerys' tent, I had seen her eyes darken and I was shocked that what seemed to be tears threatened to wash her beautiful face. It was not until Mormont placed his large hand over both of hers in an effort to give her some comfort and she sharply removed her hands from his unwelcome and forward touch, that I understood that her husband, the great Khal Drogo, had ultimately lost most of his khalasar by falling from his horse.

While I was thinking about the Khal, the leaders of the khalasar stopped ahead and I heard the Khaleesi's clear voice shout to her disciples in the Dothraki tongue, "We stop here to camp!" Then, she leapt agilely from her steed, caught my eye and gestured for me to follow her.

We sat together on a hard, sandy rock formation and watched as the fire grew in the pit Irri built. A lean and scrawny goat was slowly roasting on a spit above the flames. There was not much food left, but what little there was the people shared out as much as they could.

I had tried to summon the courage to broach a sensitive topic with the Khaleesi but finally I felt I was able to. "Khaleesi, if I may be so bold, I wondered if you might tell me as much as you feel able about…your husband?"

I watched her as she frowned, swatting away an emotional response to my question. She only nodded slightly and took a deep breath, as if about to narrate an epic tale of battles and loves and loss…which it turned out to be.

"Klaus, you already know the manner in which the Great Khal died," she looked at me questioningly to ascertain whether I remembered; once I nodded, she continued, "but I will tell you more about him."

She paused. "Khal Drogo was a fierce warrior, one who had never suffered a defeat. He commanded the greatest and largest khalasar the world has ever seen. Great cities feared his name and many powerful men paid him substantial tribute. He took me to wife when I was still a girl, but once I had been loved by him, I became a woman…I became a queen and a Khaleesi." As she said the last word, she lifted herself into a regal pose and raised her head high like a noble horse.

"We spent many moons together, roaming the grasslands. When I carried his child, we went to the Dothraki stronghold, Vaes Dothrak, and there beyond the Dothraki Sea, I ate a stallion's heart." She asked me with her eyes whether this shocked me, this new insight into her past.

Carmen had told me Daenerys had performed such a deed before she conducted me to this world, but I had no intention of letting her know that I was privy to such information about her yet, so I acted taken aback and impressed by her capabilities.

She nodded in response to my front. "The Dosh Khaleen prophesied that the son I would bear would be 'the stallion that mounts the world', the greatest Khal who was destined to unite _all_ khalasars under one banner and conquer the world."

The pride that seeped through her voice when she spoke of her son moved me. I knew her son had perished at birth, but I could sense that had he lived she would have proved a phenomenal mother – something I had no experience of, as my own mother had loathed me since the time of my own birth.

"That night, at the feast which Drogo threw to celebrate the coming of his son, my brother, Viserys was killed by my husband." She snickered, "He was foolish. He asked for a crown and Drogo gave him one…a golden one."

I had no idea what the implication was of this, but from the way her tone had changed, I guessed that her brother's demise was violent and excruciating, though it amused me that she seemed to have a poor relationship with her sibling. It was beginning to show that we were more similar than I had ever thought possible.

"Drogo was wounded in a fight with one of his bloodriders who insulted him. He ripped out his tongue, but he was cut and the injury grew infected and then it killed him and our son, Rhaego, was killed." She smiled sadly, "But then, I was given my dragons."

She glanced up at me as I peered into her face, "There, I have told you about my life, as you asked. But I know very little about _you. _I only know about your land, but you have not told me anything personal about yourself and I would like to hear about your life. Besides, we should get to know each other better…"

Her voice drifted away into nothing, but her last remark made me wonder whether her thoughts had echoed mine. Was she beginning to think of me in the same way as I was starting to think about her? It made me strangely happy to hear that this might even be a possibility…it did remind me, however, of what I had felt when Caroline had consented to be my wife. I would have to level with Daenerys about my own life, especially as she had done me the same courtesy.

I smiled kindly at her as I began my own tale, "Khaleesi, I have lived for many thousands of years, so I shall not bore you with everything I have done in my existence, but I will tell you of my birth, my transformation and my recent years…" I paused, "and my wife."

Her eyes widened at hearing that I was married, but she reacted no more than that, so I continued.

"I have four siblings, two of whom are my counselors. My sister, Rebekah and my eldest brother, Elijah, are the only ones in my family who did not betray me when my mother's husband – their father – turned against us, although we did spend hundreds of years in conflict. The three of us recently reconciled and now we are quite close."

I was about to go on to describe part of how we came to reside just outside Mystic Falls, when to my surprise, Daenerys interrupted me.

"What about your wife? Tell me about her." She ordered, her eyes exploring mine, trying to find answers to the questions she was contemplating in her mind.

I sighed, my heavy thoughts of Caroline weighing down on my resolve to continue to disclose my life story to the Khaleesi.

"Her name is Caroline, Daenerys," I looked abruptly at her, as I realized this was the first time I had addressed her by her name since she had asked me not to.

I half expected her to rebuke me for what had been an accident, but instead a smile warm with forgiveness and contentment lit up her face. She gestured at me to go on with my story.

"I married her because I fell in love with her from the first time I saw her. I thought she was the most beautiful, brave and brilliant creature I'd ever laid eyes on. She, however, did not love me. Hell, she didn't even like me! She – like you – was forced to marry me and for a time, she hated my very existence, but in time, she saw me for who I really was and began to at least tolerate me. I hurt and killed many of her friends and for that she will never forgive me, but she enjoys being my queen and she hates being left behind…" This time it was my voice that had diminished into nothing.

Instantly, my heart went out to Caroline, wherever she was at home. She had begged me not to leave her and she had also begged me to come back – two things that I had done or might not do, but both that left her alone without me. I hoped and prayed that Elijah and Rebekah were going easy on her and that she was all right.

"Klaus?"

Daenerys' concerned voice blew me out of my downward whirlwind of worrying about Caroline. "Sorry. My thoughts went home for a moment. I worry about my wife and how my siblings are treating her in my absence. She was not born or made for royalty like you or I. She was born as a common girl, but when she was turned into a vampire, all of that was taken from her and she was left to me."

I was curious to see Daenerys frown then, "So, you left her to come here?"

This seemed like as good an opportunity as any to put my proposal to her, "Yes, I did. I left her behind in Mystic Falls, so I could come to Essos and find you, Daenerys."

Uncharacteristically, her mouth opened aghast at what I had just revealed to her about why I had arrived in this world. "Why would you leave your own kingdom, people and _wife_ to come here to meet a woman whom you had never heard of before?"

"Daenerys, I had heard of you. A witch, sorry, a maegi from my own world had a vision of you and your people wandering through this wasteland. She said she could send me here so that I could meet you and…" I knew that I would have to use sensitive words and tact to relate the other motive I had for arriving in her camp.

She grew impatient quickly, "Yes?"

"I wanted you to return to my homeland with me as my queen and rule at my side." I looked at her as she understood what I had just told her.

"But you have a queen!" She stood and marched to the other side of the fire. "You've just been telling me how much you love her and worry for her!"

"That's just it! I _have _to worry for her! She is no queen next to you, Khaleesi. She is a small town girl who was put into a position too high for her ability. You," I hesitated, "are everything my queen should be."

Her features softened when she realized I was paying – or trying to pay – her the highest compliment. "Klaus…I cannot and do not ever wish to be parted from my own people. They were loyal to me when they could have gone with the rest of the khalasar and they have stayed with me even when faced with the fatal starvation that has afflicted them. I won't abandon them just to run off with you and be your queen on your terms!"

The problem was what I had predicted it would be…she was protective of her subjects and equally loyal – if not more so – to her people as they were to her. We had reached an impasse…or had we? The problem was that neither of us wished to leave our own worlds for good and be inferior to the other…perhaps I could alter that!

I rose and walked slowly round to where she stood in a harsh stance and held my hands out reaching for hers. She slowly placed her hands in mine, eyes still unsure of what I meant by the friendly gesture.

"Daenerys, if I could bring my army of hybrids here to help you defeat the King of the Seven Kingdoms – for you alone – would you want them here to help you?"

She mouthed her assent and approval.

"Then, if it can be done, I'll have them brought here…but under one condition." I said, unsure what her reply would be to my offer.

She took a sharp intake of breath, "What do you want, Klaus?"

A strand of her platinum blonde hair had fallen from its braid into her face. I gently raised my hand to brush it behind her ear, touching her cheek slightly as I did. It felt soft and sensuous, but I returned my attention to her eyes and to what I was about to suggest she do in order to have my hybrids as a force.

"I want to have you turned into a vampire."

She looked at me, stunned for a second. Clearly, I had surprised her beyond words, for she could not think of any to respond with. All she did was reclaim her hands and banish my touch, but not unkindly and passively walk away to where Irri and Jhiqui were now sitting with Mormont as he was telling them a story of dragons and the Targaryens. As she sat beside her handmaidens, she looked me in the eyes from across the camp and the two of us just gazed at each other. No _right_ words could be spoken yet, but maybe they would come to her…if I gave her time and did not pressure her.


	7. For My People

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: _I really must apologise now, I am an awful one for updating consistently I've just had a lot on my plate, what with work, university and illness, so my heartiest thanks if you've stuck with this through the thick and thin! I am still determined to reach the end of this story, so there will be further updates. As I'm levelling with you, if you 'Follow Story', you'll be able to see more easily when I post chapters.

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**Chapter VII ~ For My People**

**(DAENERYS)**

"_I want to have you turned into a vampire." _

I heard the words but I did not understand their meaning. This…thing wanted to change me into a creature. He wanted me to abandon my natural Targaryen powers and allow him to give me new powers and abilities. As I strode away from him to the company of my handmaidens and Ser Jorah, my mind racing away from my body, I could feel his burning eyes hurling daggers at my back, but no matter how severe or insistent he became, I would not decide without deliberation…not this time.

I sat beside my protector as he ended a story where the Targaryen princes overthrew a rebellion from Dorne. I realized I envied my ancestors of legend, for they always seemed to be featured in the myths of Westeros in pairs or as a family unit. I, Daenerys Stormborn, was the last of my great family and I had no kin to fall back on or rely on for counsel. I was expected to take this decision – probably the biggest and hardest decision I would ever take – by myself.

"Are you quite well, Khaleesi?" a strong male voice inquired, penetrating my contemplation.

I smiled easily at my trusted confidant, "Yes, Ser Jorah, I am." Though I knew the knight was utterly dependable, I did not yet wish to reveal to him what Klaus had suggested to me, especially because since the two met, there had been tension which could have been cut.

"Very well. Forgive me then, my queen, I have some errand to run," he smiled at the Dothraki servants, "now that I have finished the story."

If he was departing, Irri and Jhiqui could leave me in silence and solitude to consider my options, "Irri,Jhiqui, go and check round the camp, see if everyone is still fit enough to travel."

They murmured their obeisance and scuttled away from my presence. Now I had no other company except the myriad of voices echoing in my head, each telling me to take a different path. My task for the next few hours, or days, just however long it would take, was to find my voice and the correct voice which spoke of the journey that would be right for me and my people, as whatever decision I took, they would suffer any consequences or benefit from any improvements. I did not have the luxury to be selfish, my priority had to be what would be the best possible thing for all of my khalasar.

A few hours passed and I still had not been able to make a decision regarding my future, but my contemplation was interrupted by the sound of fighting. If the sounds I heard were of two of my Dothraki tribesmen sparring, I would not have lifted a thumb to intervene or to investigate, but the raised voices I heard were of Andal men. I knew one would be Ser Jorah, but the only other man in my camp who could speak Old Valyrian was Klaus – but why would the two men be fighting each other?

I hurried to where the sound was originating and I found a circle formed by women and a few men from the khalasar. Within the ring, Ser Jorah and Klaus were circling each other. The knight was hurling insults and slurs at the hybrid; the other man was silent, just watching the older knight with now yellow eyes, speckled with black. It was a frightening match of wills between my constant protector and a man who had come into my life, possibly to be my salvation and the salvation of my people. I could not do without either of them – not just yet, anyway – so I knew what was required of me.

Time seemed to slow down for me to enter the ring and place myself between the two fighters. I did not think that they would actually dare to attack one another if I commanded otherwise and prevented the combat. I was wrong…

As I ran to the pair, I faced Klaus and held out my arm to keep him, the more powerful, away from my dear Ser Jorah. I had misunderstood the confrontation, as it was the knight who was posed to strike at the hybrid and by my interference, his sword fashioned of hard Valyrian steel, swiftly cut through the skin of my back and into the bone beneath.

My scream tore through the air, stunning the spectators who had watched as my supposed greatest defender had torn my body asunder, a body which he claimed was so precious to him. As I plummeted to the floor, my blood already pooling around my feet, only Klaus could react fast enough to do something, the others just stood motionless still processing what had just happened.

Klaus quickly bent to catch me before fully landed in the dirt, "Khaleesi!" he exclaimed. His voice bringing the other people surrounding us forward to the present, as I noticed out of the corner of my eye two men came and arrested Ser Jorah by the arms and pulled him away from Klaus and me, now ensconced together on the bloody ground.

"Khaleesi, Khaleesi!" Ser Jorah cried, "My queen, I am sorry, please, please forgive me!"

Klaus looked up at his opponent and glared at him with fury radiating from his amber eyes, "You would have killed her, Mormont, your so-called beloved queen – you would have been her assassin!"

I looked blankly up at Klaus, "It hurts…so much," I flinched at the pain, "am I dying? Please, help me. Don't let me go like Drogo…"

The man holding me firmly, yet gently at the same time, looked deeply into my eyes as he whispered, "No, for I will not suffer you to die. I will heal you, Khaleesi."

I processed this news as much as my tormented body would allow me to…Klaus was going to heal me. He was about to save my life. As a hybrid, he had the power to heal my wrecked spine and my broken skin.

I watched, along with the remainder of my people, who were still engrossed in what was happening to me, as Klaus brought his bloody arm up to his lips and sank his fangs deep into the flesh. The blood sprang from his veins as he carefully brought my head to his arm to drink from the font of his lifeblood. I took in the red liquid, not really tasting it, just pulling the blood from him into me and feeling the sensations pulsing through my broken body as it healed me. Even once I felt myself heal entirely, I could not force myself to stop drinking from him, the urge to drink the sweet liquid was too strong.

"Enough now, Khaleesi," Klaus spoke kindly as he retracted his arm from the grasp of my lips.

He rose and then bent to pull me to my feet. As I stood tall once more, I saw the shocked and stunned faces of my people as they all clamored round me, all inspecting my back and being immensely glad that my wound had completely been healed.

Irri and Jhiqui fought their way through the cluster of bodies around me to attend on me, but they were so apologetic that they had been absent when I was injured that I reassured them and then instructed them to prepare my tent for me to take some rest, for I did feel fatigued after the ordeal and I knew that soon I would have to deal with Ser Jorah, who now was presumably under guard and in bonds. First of all, though, I needed to see and speak to Klaus in private.

I turned to face him and smiled, "Klaus, will you walk with me for a short time?"

He simply nodded, though I could see his eyes boring into mine searching for a hint as to what was to come.

We walked out of the camp and off into the wilderness. Once I was sure we were out of earshot of anyone in the outer camp, I asked the question that had been weighing on my mind since I fell under Ser Jorah's sword, "Can any injury be healed by your blood?"

"No, very serious ones – like yours – can be healed but sometimes the damage is too extensive for a hybrid or _a vampire's_ blood to be of any use. If the person is too close to death, Khaleesi, they cannot be saved and the blood will also not resurrect the dead."

"I must confess to you, that before I came to find you and Ser Jorah at each other's throats, I was thinking about your…suggestion," his eyes widened in hope, "but I still need more time to decide what I really need to do, though I won't pretend that today's incident hasn't affected my thoughts on the matter at all."

"Yes…" he smiled, "you would certainly have been in trouble were I not a hybrid with blood that cures most things. Think how good it would be for your khalasar if more than one person had the ability to prevent them from being egregiously hurt so much that they would die."

I stopped in my tracks and scowled at him, "Don't try and influence me, Klaus. I don't take kindly to it and it will not endear you to me at all!"

He appeared taken aback by my outburst, but he should have expected it, "Forgive me, Khaleesi, I should not have said what I did," he looked shy, and it did not seem natural to me for this man to appear so timid, "but I do care about you so much, Khaleesi and I would like to think that you would have the ultimate power to protect yourself and your khalasar from any that mean you harm."

I looked at him and I truly believed he cared for me as he said and he did speak the truth that I really did need to be powerful enough to protect my khalasar and myself as their leader.

He saw me deliberating and my hesitancy and his next actions both frightened me and excited me. He quickly leant down to enfold my lips in his and wrapped his arms around my neck, ensnaring me against his supple body. I had no opportunity to think, all I could do was respond and respond I did.

My lips parted and he took full advantage of that. His arms moved down from my neck to slide down my sides and rest on my hips, still pulling me into him. I felt the passion he bore for me and I realized the feelings I had for him, for my savior. I allowed him what he wished for a time, but when he pulled back for a breath, I realized how I could not give into any emotional feelings I might have for him until I knew whether I would become a vampire or not.

Before he could reclaim any part of my body, I shook my head and walked back in the direction of my camp, not knowing what I ought to do next.


	8. A Dowry & an Army

**Chapter VIII ~ A Dowry & an Army**

**(KLAUS)**

I watched her as she walked away from me…again. I wanted so badly, I needed so much to follow her and press my case. All of my instincts were screaming at me to go after her and to bite her and have my way, whether she gave her consent or not. That was what my nature and brain was telling me, but my heart – my newly-found heart – was telling me something quite different. I would give her the space she needed to make her mind up and decide what was best for her khalasar.

Once she had walked into the camp and out of my sight, I headed back to the camp myself, but not to Daenerys. I walked around the camp and was greeted by the occasional person, but most of the Dothraki hurried into their tents at the sight of me prowling around their homes. I recognized most of them, either because I had let them drink from me to save them from certain starvation or from the fear that held them as I gorged my thirst on Doreah. They were irrelevant to me now, as all I had to do was have patience – a virtue I had never prided myself on acquiring until now – and hope that the Khaleesi would give in to her good judgment and permit me to turn her.

While I wandered aimlessly round the encampment, I noticed a tent set aside from the rest and heard a faint chanting emanating from its wispy cloths. As I headed towards it to investigate this new oddity, I felt a warm, calloused hand on my shoulder. I was about to turn and rip the offending and intrusive limb from its body, but upon seeing that it was one of Daenerys' handmaidens (Irri, I believe her name was) I reconsidered.

"That is the tent of a maegi," she said tentatively.

"Maegi?"

"She is a witch-woman, deals in black magic and death. Her sister-witch murdered our Khal, but the Khaleesi keeps this one living in solitude as a long punishment for the murder of her beloved Khal."

_So, this is the woman whom Carmen must have seen_. I recalled the witch's name from the first time I was told news of her existence, "She is Shurti Sheb Kuûm?" I asked.

Surprise pervaded Irri's small face as it appeared I already knew of the witch, "Yes, my lord, that is how she is called."

With that I stalked away from Irri without another word and strode forward on my desire to make the acquaintance of the woman who had made my journey here possible through her exploration of other worlds and her discovery of Carmen's presence.

Witches in America were mostly hippy sorts in society, with seemingly unhealthy interests in nature and homeopathy. My interest was fully peaked with the desire to investigate what witches in this land were like, though I had already heard the tales of the maegi who caused the deaths of the Khal and the unborn child of Khal Drogo and Daenerys.

As I stepped into the maegi's tent, the pungent, heady smog of incense was a direct blow to the senses. Even my heightened hybrid vision was impaired by the sea of smoke not allowing me to see anything further than my own nose. The grumbling chants of the maegi stopped once I set foot into her tent and silence now was as thick in the air as the smoke from the many incense burners.

"Witch, I wish to see your face. Make yourself known."

An almost shrill and breathy voice responded, "Lord Niklaus Mikaelson, wondrous it is that you have come from Old Valyria into this wasteland to shield and protect us from our mistress' dangerous will. By tempering her yourself, by making her yours will she become a true ruler of men and of her khalasar. How goes the effort, my lord?"

Her knowledge of what had only just past stunned me, "I believe the Khaleesi will be persuaded but she is still deliberating," I very rarely disclosed my innermost opinions and thoughts to strangers, but the maegi's words told me she was an ally and might very well be in a position to help my cause, "she thinks her people would not accept her as Khaleesi if she were no longer a creature from this world, yet I am of the belief that the Dothraki would support her were she to offer a more efficient means of protecting them from the hunger, the rogue khalasars and the armies of Westeros who will endeavour to halt her coming invasion at all costs. Her being a hybrid would no doubt save exponential lives." I sighed; frustrated at how Daenerys was unable to see clearly that the positives of letting me change her far outweighed any _hypothetical_ negatives.

"The Khaleesi will never risk losing what little she has left of her husband's people. The Bear, though he has lost much influence since your arrival here, will always caution her against taking the counsel of any man who is not him. He is still a danger to your cause."

"Tell me, why are you so eager to help my cause? The Khaleesi is punishing you for your kinswoman's treachery, yet you still wish to be of assistance to her in her great quest for her homeland." I asked.

The witch chuckled, "The Khaleesi will reward those who help her in her efforts to once again be Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. I did not commit any crime, other than that of association to Mirri, so once I have aided the Targaryen girl in her push for power, she will give me my freedom," she smiled a smile that meant no good, "or I'm sure that once she has conceded to your will, _you_ will reward me for my involvement."

Now it was my turn to laugh, for I had encountered a kindred spirit in this maegi. She was acting for her own good and was helping me into the seat of power beside Daenerys so that I could better her situation and offer her what she desired in return for her favours to me. _Clever, witch_…

I looked her directly in her deep hazelnut eyes, "_If_ my efforts are successful and I do indeed change Daenerys into a hybrid, you can be assured of my generosity."

_But I can be cleverer still_…

"However, to be successful in this task, I first need you to contact Carmen, the witch from my world whom you achieved communication with to transport me here initially." I demanded with the smug smile that could charm any witch to do my bidding.

"Very well, my lord," she said as she drew a rugged blade from her robes, "then, hand me your wrist and we shall begin."

She took some of my blood to use in a blood ritual to conduct her magic through to Carmen who would respond on the other end. The preparations were swift and she was an impressive witch, who confidently set about using her powers. Surviving in this world with this witch as an ally would be entirely tolerable.

"My king? Klaus? Speak to me, my lord, I can hear you," Carmen's bold American accent spoke through the brown, chapped lips of Shurti Sheb Kuûm. The witch had made contact through to Carmen and was now a medium for my own witch back home to communicate with me.

"Carmen, love, good to hear from someone from good old Uncle Sam. How's everything holding up?"

"Well, your siblings are proving adequate rulers and have maintained control of the hybrid nation with iron fists – Rebekah in particular is most feared – and Caroline,"

"Yes?" I interrupted, most desirous to learn of my wife's condition in my absence.

"Caroline has retreated from her duties and now fights constantly against your sister for the humans and the vampires of Mystic Falls. Rebekah has not yet killed her, as Elijah keeps Caroline firmly under his protection, as per your orders. She will be safeguarded at all costs." Carmen reported.

It did not surprise me that some dissent between my sister and my wife, yet I was satisfied that under the watchful gaze of my eldest brother, their bickering and strife would never escalate resulting in Caroline's death.

"Carmen, dear, I need to ask whether it is viable to transport a large number of my hybrids here in the same manner as I travelled here." I inquired.

Silence once again laid waste to the interior of the tent and though worlds divided us, I could almost hear the cogs whirring in Carmen's head as she pondered the logistics of the task I had just asked her to facilitate.

"I believe it can be done. That is, with the cooperation of your family and you yourself would also be required to utter a blessing over them before they travelled, much like Caroline did during the blood ritual that allowed you to travel to another world," she drew a long breath, "so, I take it, that you are planning on remaining with your new queen and your plans have come to fruition?"

I chuckled, "Very astute, but no, as of yet Daenerys is still in the contemplative stages of deciding whether to permit me to make her a hybrid, but I believe that when I can present an army of hybrids that would help her cause and protect her and the Dothraki people, she will finally be persuaded to be mine."

"A sound plan, my king. I shall make all preparations necessary for the blood ritual. It will take at least until tomorrow, but I will inform Shurti Sheb Kuûm when the time comes to take your blessing and to send through the army."

"Thank you, Carmen, much appreciated." I said contentedly.

With that, the maegi slumped down, gasping for air and blinking as she resumed control over her own body. Once I was assured of her wellbeing – wouldn't do me any good if she expired before I had my forces brought here – I went away from the tent and back out into the humid desert.

The rest of the day was spent waiting around the camp in a complete state of apathy, for I could not act or do anything until either Daenerys reached the correct conclusion of her own musings or until Carmen and Shurti Sheb Kuûm could between them arrange the blood ritual and send my army of hybrids here.

In the extremely early hours of the morning, I was roused by a small Dothraki girl who beckoned for me to follow her into the maegi's tent, where the witch sat cross-legged and encircled deep in a purple-hued smoke cloud.

"Witch, is everything made ready for the ritual?" I asked.

She merely nodded her head and beckoned me to approach her, whereupon she took my wrist and cut it, wiping the red liquid across her forehead, in what I took to be the "blessing" which the witches had informed me would be necessary in conducting my army here. Then, the hypnotic chanting began and the maegi bounced on her haunches as if dancing to the rhythm of the music she felt internally.

All of a sudden, she ceased her singing and her movements and her eyes shot up, black as the coal from a dying fire and she spoke faintly, so much so that had I not been gifted with hybrid senses, I would not have heard her say, "They have arrived."

I knew the number of my forces which Carmen had succeeded in sending to me, so I sped out of the tent to search for my army, who would act on their own dangerous impulses were I not before them to issue commands and thus wreak havoc on the Dothraki people and their queen, but I would reach them before that…

I saw them before my eyes, just standing, waiting for my impending orders. After a time away from my own people and those who I felt at ease and familiar with, I felt a great surge of relief at their recent arrival, "Hello, friends," I smiled, "and welcome to a new world."

I stayed in the wilderness with them whilst I explained the situation here and why I felt it necessary to have them by my side. As the first light of dawn peeked over the golden horizon, we left the lonely outback of Daenerys' camp and headed towards the village of tents and faced the scouts and sentinels that protectively encircled the camp. Once we came into their line of sight, I made out one of Daenerys' riders heading towards the main tent to fetch his revered leader and apprise her of the approaching horde of hybrids.

She met us with all the grace and dignity her position entailed, "Klaus, I thought I had your word that you would not pressure me into conceding to your requests?" The anger hidden in her voice was subtle yet I could sense its rising potency.

"You mistake me, Khaleesi, my intent in bringing my _hybrid_ warriors," I saw her eyes widen and survey those standing behind me, "to your encampment was not to intimidate you or force your hand in any way, merely to demonstrate to you the sheer force I can provide to you and your people, and more importantly, your cause, should you decide to allow me to make you _their_ queen as well as mine."

I could see her resolve to delay her final decision diminishing as she observed my hybrids' number and force, so I pressed my point, "Think, Daenerys, of how effective an attack on the Seven Kingdoms to reclaim your rightful throne would be were both you empowered by hybrid abilities in _every_ way. If, by your own decision, you choose not to accept my troth or my army, we will simply depart this world and return to our own," I took a long breath, "but, my queen, I would far prefer to remain at your side and have you at mine and rule Westeros together than return to Old Valyria without your gracious company."

She looked at the dusty desert floor in a rare moment of indecisiveness, but after a few moments when her deep blue eyes met mine, strength oozing through them, she spoke words which I felt blest to hear, "I consent to be your queen and to join our two races in the common goal of the Iron Throne of Westeros."


End file.
